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Arutprakasa Vallalar '''Chidambaram Ramalingam(5 October 1823 – 30 January 1874), whose pre-monastic name was Ramalingam, is commonly known in India and across the world1 as Vallalar (Tamil: வள்ளலார்). He was one of the most famous Tamil Saints and also one of the greatest Tamil poets of the 19th century2 and belongs to a line of Tamil saints known as "gnana siddhars" (gnana means higher wisdom). The Suddha Sanmarga Sangam3 was spread and passed on by him not only in theory but mainly in practice by his own way of living which was itself inspiration for his followers. Through the notion of Suddha Sanmarga Sangam, the saint endeavored to eliminate the menace of caste According to Suddha Sanmarga, the prime aspects of human life should be love connected with charity and divine practice leading to achievement of pure knowledge. Ramalinga Adigal was the youngest child of Ramiah Pillai and his sixth wife Chinnamaiar, who lived in Marudur in South Arcot district, a village 15 km north-west of Chidambaram. Ramiah Pillai's first five wives had died childless and in quick succession. Chinnamaiar, however, bore him five children; the older ones were two sons, Sabhapati and Parasuraman, and two daughters, Sundarammal and Unnamali. They named their youngest child Ramalingam. edit Notable happenings during childhood When Ramalinga Adigal was five months old, his parents took him to the Chidambaram Temple. It is said that this infant laughed aloud when the priest offered the traditional Deepa aradhana to the Lord. This apparently routine visit to the temple thus offered him his first spiritual experience as well. In later years he said of the experience, "No sooner the Light was perceived, happiness prevailed on me" "The sweet nectar was tasted by me as soon as the Arutperunjothi (Supreme Grace Of Light) became visible"5 In 1824, the very next month, his father Ramiah Pillai died. His sudden death forced a helpless Chinnamaiar to shift to the residence of her eldest son Sabhapati and his wife Parvathi at Chennai. When Ramalingam was five years old, Sabhapati, decided to formally educate his youngest sibling Ramalingam but the young child however showed a deep disinclination towards formal education but on the other hand preferring trips to the local Kandasamy temple. Sabhapati was convinced that the child was on a self-destructive path. As a punitive measure, he forbade his wife from giving Ramalingam his daily meal. His compassionate sister-in-law, however, surreptitiously fed him food and gently prevailed upon him to pursue his studies seriously at home. Ramalingam relented on the condition that he be given a separate room of his own. Now, in the solitary confines of this room, he set up a mirror and in front of it a small, lighted lamp. With these as aids he relentlessly meditated and this was the beginning of the young boy's spiritual journey. The first reward came in the form of a vision of Lord Muruga. In the saint's own words: "The beauty endowed divine faces six, the illustrious shoulders twelve"